The only story is the outcome of the 2016 Election and the selecting of Donald Trump as the next US President. The full consequences of this are detailed, and his staff picks are discussed, and also offered is a look into how this happened: the prevailing use of social media to isolate people into echo chambers and feed them disinformation. A list of many organizations you can donate to and volunteer for is offered. It ends with a hearty FUCK YOU to the year 2016.

The entire episode is on YouTube (29m). This is the last episode of 2016, and the end of the third season of Last Week Tonight.

F. 37: A picture of bald eagles stuck in a grate, with the captions "Metaphorus Apta" and "Bald Eagles."

Election 2016: I Thought I Wanted It To Be Over But Now That It's Over I Wish It Was Still Going On Because It Turns Out The Ending Is Even Worse Twenty-Fucking-Sixteen

I'm certainly going to be using some adaptive variation on "I will not normalize trump like that" with people who insist normalizing with me.posted by Burhanistan at 5:37 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

As a Brit who loves Last Week Tonight (we get it on Sky Atlantic the day after it's transmitted in the US*) I have to wonder if there will be another series. Yes, I know that Trump's plans to introduce stricter libel laws would be very hard to implement, certainly in the short term, but given the way things already seem to be heading how likely is it that satire and criticism will just be bullied off TV?

*Although his Brexit Vote special was delayed until after the actual vote for UK broadcast, because of our very, very strict laws on media influence on elections and polls (cue hollow laughter....)posted by Major Clanger at 7:11 AM on November 14, 2016

It's great that HBO just put the whole episode on YouTube, but I do kind of wish they'd have also put up the Fuck 2016 clip on its own, just to make it easier to play it on repeat from now until 2018.posted by General Malaise at 7:26 AM on November 14, 2016 [6 favorites]

The sad thing is that a few months into 2017 we'll be daydreaming of 2016 like it was a fucking paradise and "the good old days."posted by jenfullmoon at 7:37 AM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

how likely is it that satire and criticism will just be bullied off TV?
I'd go with "very unlikely". Everyone tried to get rid of Trump (while still normalizing him), and failed. As Oliver pointed out, these shows are echo chambers, and it's unlikely there's still anyone who might be swayed because someone DESTROYED Trump for the 890390th time on a satirical news show. While he is petty enough to want to go after them, politically there's nothing there to be gained.

What *might* happen is people getting tired of all "eviscerations" and "cathartic moments" that ultimately amount to nothing, and stop watching, particularly if everyone keeps riffing on the same things. This is more problematic for once-a-week shows like LWT and FF, who need to go back to their voices away from Election Mode or else will be doomed repeating the same jokes, only days after every other late show made them (and that's the reason I stopped doing FF posts - it became More 22 Minutes With Trump, and not even Bee can save another 4-day old take on whatever bullshit Trump said).posted by lmfsilva at 8:49 AM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]

While he is petty enough to want to go after them, politically there's nothing there to be gained.

Problem is, the deciding question isn't, "What's actually true?" The deciding question will be, "What does Trump feel about it?" Trump doesn't like people making fun of him. That will be what motivates his approach to libel. He isn't motivated by politics, he's motivated by greed and insecurity. And comedy makes him insecure.

Problem is, the deciding question isn't, "What's actually true?" The deciding question will be, "What does Trump feel about it?" Trump doesn't like people making fun of him. That will be what motivates his approach to libel. He isn't motivated by politics, he's motivated by greed and insecurity. And comedy makes him insecure.

Well, the good news is that when it comes down to it, it won't be Trump making the decision about libel laws. As covered in the show, defamation is a state-by-state thing.

So, to "open up" the laws as Trump wants to the following things would have to happen:

1a. State legislatures and governors change state law to say "making fun of the president's hands is actionable" or
1b. Congress passes a law creating a federal cause of action for defamation including a "hands" provision.

and then:
2. A case challenging the laws makes it to the supreme court and wins.

Trump has no direct power to make 1a and 1b happen, and it doesn't really seem like something that any other republican (except Peter Thiel maybe) would want to spend political capital to do, what with the 1st amendment and all.

Trump can make 2. a factor when choosing a replacement Supreme Court justice, but he'd still need to convince at least four other judges on a court that tends to lean towards protecting established 1st amendment rights that somehow preventing satire was a legitimate reason to curtail them.posted by sparklemotion at 7:55 AM on November 16, 2016

I keep thinking about John Oliver saying not to normalize Trump, but I absolutely have been doing just that this past week. I've been clinging to any scrap of hope that this will be a normal transition followed by a normal, if shitty administration, because I think if I behaved as if I thought Trump were abnormal, I would not be able to function. I would not be able to get out of bed and keep going in my life the way I need to to keep things together.

It makes me feel like a terrible feminist and an even shittier ally, but I don't know where to go from here.posted by chainsofreedom at 2:33 PM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

You can't act as if each moment is the end of the world. But you can remember that horrible things are happening, even if you don't always see direct evidence of them. You have a tendency to think, if you don't see it, it doesn't exist, but having outright evil people in charge will have a hundred effects, both subtle and profound. Don't forget that.

Like, everyone hates Nixon because of Watergate. But what internal culture did his administration encourage to make such an act even thinkable? You know the things that were discovered. Now imagine the things, keeping with Nixon's character, they did that no one will ever know. He kept an outright enemies list. Trump's said something like that too, and publicly. What kinds of things will he be up to?

(If malfeasance on the scale of Watergate were discovered again, would our country act the same way, or would it come down to partisan lines, the Republicans defending him because he's on their team?)posted by JHarris at 2:46 PM on November 16, 2016 [4 favorites]